Law Reports

By Joan C. Rogers   California lawyers publicly disparaged by a former client may not fight fire with fire but may try to counter the criticism so long as they stay within certain boundaries, according to a Dec. 6 opinion from the Los Angeles County bar’s ethics committee (Los Angeles County Bar Ass’n Professional Responsibility [...]

By Joan C. Rogers   An Idaho lawyer who has not practiced much in recent years due to anxiety and depression and who therefore cannot meet the “active practice requirement” for admission on motion will not be admitted to practice law in Utah without taking the bar examination despite his substantial legal experience, the Utah [...]

By Joan C. Rogers   A California lawyer who is unable to obtain waivers to deal with a “thrust-upon” conflict of interest arising from a corporate client’s merger may ethically withdraw from representing one client and continue to represent the other if he has not received confidential information from the now-former client that is substantially [...]

By Alex Ruoff   A small nonprofit hospice organization in Idaho has agreed to pay $50,000 to the Department of Health and Human Services to settle allegations of federal data security rule violations over the loss of a laptop containing the personal health information of 441 patients, HHS announced Jan. 2. The settlement is the [...]

New health quality measurement standards for insurance plans offered on health insurance exchanges should be aligned with existing quality standards to reduce administrative burdens among providers and confusion among consumers, provider groups said in recent comments submitted to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services. The comments responded to a request for information issued by [...]

By Brian Broderick     The Food and Drug Administration outlined in a Dec. 26, 2012, notice its plans to study the impact of corrective television ads that aim to remedy incorrect information in direct-to-consumer pharmaceutical advertising. The agency published a notice in the Federal Register (77 Fed. Reg. 76,046) that solicits comment on what it [...]

The Senate, in considering a House bill (H.R. 6029) that would stiffen penalties for foreign, economic espionage convictions, substituted in its own slightly different version, which passed Dec. 19. The House then debated the bill Dec. 29 and passed the legislation late on the evening of Jan. 1. Unlike the House’s version of the bill, [...]

In re WebMD Health Corp. Securities Litigation, S.D.N.Y., No. 11 Civ. 5382 (JFK), 1/2/13 Key Holding: The court tosses out a putative securities fraud class action alleging that WebMD and certain of its officials released revenue forecasts they knew to be inflated, and then let the truth about the alleged state of WebMD’s business trickle [...]

The Securities and Exchange Commission Dec. 21 sued four individuals and 12 entities alleging that they ran a penny stock fraud scheme in which they acquired unregistered microcap company shares at discounted prices and subsequently sold them while falsely claiming registration exemptions under federal securities laws (SEC v. Garber, S.D.N.Y., 12 Civ. 9339 (SAS), 12/21/12). [...]

The Patent and Trademark Office announced on Jan. 3 plans “to enhance the quality of software-related patents.” 78 Fed. Reg. 292 (Jan. 3, 2012). The notice described the formation of a “Software Partnership,” similar to cooperative efforts between the agency and the members of the patent community with specific technology expertise. The PTO scheduled roundtable [...]

By Tony Dutra President Barack Obama acted Jan. 4 to resubmit 33 nominations for federal courts, including Richard G. Taranto’s nomination to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit. The U.S. Senate closed the 112th Congress without voting on the nomination of Taranto and five other circuit court judges, each of which was [...]

By Ari Natter The inclusion of a one-year extension of a production tax credit for wind energy in a tax measure signed into law Jan. 2 is likely to help the wind industry in its quest to have a phase-out of the incentive spread over multiple years, analysts said.

NEW YORK–Legislation enacted Jan. 2 to avoid or delay approximately $606 billion in automatic spending cuts and tax increases shielded–perhaps only temporarily–tax and other federal policy changes that could materially impair municipal securities markets, practitioners told BNA Jan. 3-4. By Stephen Joyce

A service that purportedly allows subscribers to stream broadcast television content to their computers and mobile devices via mini antennas infringes content industry copyrights, at least within the Ninth Circuit, the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California ruled Dec. 27 (Fox Television Stations Inc. v. BarryDriller Content Systems PLC, C.D. Cal., No. [...]

Both houses of Congress approved legislation at the end of the year that mostly makes technical corrections to the 2011 patent reform bill, the America Invents Act. H.R. 6621 fills in some gaps in the AIA and clarifies some items that were not particularly controversial, and goes beyond the AIA only in the area of [...]

(Hawaii Pac. Health v. Takamine, D. Haw., No. 11-00706, 12/31/12) Key Holding:Recently enacted Hawaii law prohibiting employers with collective bargaining agreements from retaliating against employees taking sick leave is subject to NLRA preemption and violates equal protection clause. Key Takeaway:Court finds state law targeting only employers that are parties to collective bargaining agreements is constitutionally [...]

Wardia v. Justice & Pub. Safety Cabinet Dep’t of Juvenile Justice, 6th Cir., No. 12-5337, unpublished opinion 1/3/13 Key Holding:Juvenile detention center did not need to accommodate youth worker because neck injury prevented him from performing physical restraints, which was essential function of the position. Key Takeaway:Employers need not provide accommodations that are unreasonable, or [...]

Gail B. Geiger Appointed Acting U.S. Trustee for Region 18 Key Development: Geiger replaces Robert D. Miller Jr., who is retiring after nearly 25 years with the U.S. Trustee Program. Key Takeaway: Region 18, headquartered in Seattle, has additional offices in Spokane, Wash.; Anchorage, Ala.; Boise, Idaho; Eugene and Portland, Ore.; and Great Falls, Mont. [...]

By Stephanie M. Acree An official unsecured creditors committee’s motion to pursue alleged fraudulent transfers from the Archdiocese of Milwaukee in the wake of a priest sexual abuse scandal was denied Dec. 10 by the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Eastern District of Wisconsin (In re Archdiocese of Milwaukee, Bankr. E.D. Wis., No. 11-20059 (SVK), [...]

By Cecelia M. Assam, Alexei Alexis , and Katie W. Johnson Final amendments to the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Rule, released Dec. 19 by the Federal Trade Commission, add geolocation information, photos, videos, and persistent identifiers, such as internet protocol addresses, to the definition of “personal information,” among other changes. The amendments will strengthen children’s [...]